Manchester United takeover LIVE: Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos completes deal with Glazers for minority stake
The Ineos Group owner has purchased a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League giants from the Glazer family
Manchester United have entered a new era as Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed his deal to become a minority shareholder in the Premier League club.
Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group have announced that they have agreed a deal, thought to be in the region of £1.3bn, with the current owners, the Glazer family, to buy 25 per cent of United.
The petrochemicals billionaire will take control of football operations and is prepared to invest a further £245m into infrastructure works at Old Trafford and possibly Carrington, United’s training ground.
The agreement will signal the end of a tumultuous chapter in the club’s history after the Glazers announced that they would consider selling the club back in November 2022.
Follow all the latest updates below:
Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally completes Manchester United minority takeover
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United and will be given footballing control of the club.
The Ineos billionaire, a lifelong United fan, has paid £1.3bn for Class B shares from the Glazer family, who retain the biggest part of the club, and will provide an extra $300m for investment in Old Trafford. Two-thirds of that will be available immediately, with the rest to follow by the end of 2024.
The petrochemicals magnate Ratcliffe vowed to try and unlock United’s potential and take them back to the top of English and European football. Erik ten Hag’s struggling team are currently eighth in the Premier League and were knocked out of the Champions League after finishing bottom of their group.
The sale of the stake to Ratcliffe ends a 13-month takeover process in which United also explored a sale, with the Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim making five bids, and Ineos first looking for a full buyout and then amending their offer to minority investment.
Richard Jolly with the full story on today’s big announcement
Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally completes Manchester United minority takeover
The Ineos owner has bought a 25 per cent stake from the Glazer family to invest in the team he supported as a boy and take control of footballing operations
Everything you still don’t know about the Manchester United takeover
For all the noise around the Manchester United sale process over the past few months, there were a few key words that actually stood out as crucial to those involved. That was when the Ineos delegation met the club hierarchy and Sir Jim Ratcliffe was “blunt” about the many football failings. The billionaire, who took the same “helicopter view” of the sport as he does all his businesses, pointed to specific areas where United were drastically underperforming against similar clubs.
This contrasted with the Qatari delegation, who never actually included Sheikh Jassim. They went into no such detail.
It has all played into one of the biggest developments out of the major news that the Glazer ownership of United has finally been diluted. A minority stake has been sold to Ineos.
Ratcliffe’s football hierarchy – to be led by Jean-Claude Blanc – will not have to run decisions past the US-based siblings, in the way that has arguably hampered United for so long. A budget will be agreed at board level and that will then be completely under the purview of the Ineos sporting structure, who will have total control and authority over the sporting side of the club. That might seem unusual but it will in some way be a reversion to the structure under Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill. The authority is there to make major decisions.
The importance of that in itself shouldn’t be underestimated. It is arguably a best-case scenario for supporters in the context of the Glazers staying, and something most would have eagerly accepted before at least November 2022.
Analysis by Chief Football Writer, Miguel Delaney
Everything you still don’t know about the Manchester United takeover
How Jim Ratcliffe – a ‘blunt’ British billionaire – secured a minority stake at United, while Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim proved to be a ‘non-runner’
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have no honeymoon as he faces urgent problems at Manchester United
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe was born, Manchester United were champions of England. If that was an unusual status for them then – Sir Matt Busby’s triumph in 1952 was United’s first in 41 years – the chances are that Ratcliffe hopes their 21st title will come with him in the boardroom. It has taken him seven decades to travel the seven miles from his Failsworth birthplace to Old Trafford and a status as co-owner of United. That, and the accumulation of remarkable wealth; some £1.3bn has been required for the petrochemicals tycoon to purchase a 25 percent stake in United.
Now the Glazer family’s share of United is lower than it has been at any stage since their 2005 leveraged buyout. If one era has not ended, another has begun. Change is coming to the Old Trafford boardroom; perhaps to other levels of a club that has underachieved on the pitch in the last decade, too. The questions revolve around how much and how quickly, who and why and when.
Analysis by Senior Football Reporter, Richard Jolly
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have no honeymoon as he faces urgent problems at Man United
Ratcliffe has completed his lifelong dream by purchasing a stake in Manchester United - but reality is set to bite immediately
How did Sir Jim Ratcliffe succeed in buying Manchester United?
When he was trying to complete a full takeover of the club, rather than just the 25 per cent stake he ended up with, fan surveys suggested Ratcliffe’s bid was the most popular of those parties interested, which makes sense given his links with the city and the club from childhood.
Despite his vast wealth, there were fears Ratcliffe would find himself blown out of the water by an approach from Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani but as our Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney explained, the Brit’s personal approach ultimately outmanoeuvred the Qatari bid.
What else does Ineos do in sport?
Ratcliffe owns Swiss Super League club FC Lausanne-Sport, where his investment brought in notable players including Enzo Zidane, the son of Zinedine. But he angered fans by attempting to redesign the historic club’s badge to incorporate elements of Ineos branding, including the petrochemical company’s distinctive ‘O’ and its orange colours. The proposed logo was scrapped after a backlash from supporters.
He also own French club Nice, whom he bought for €100m. In the past three seasons, the club have finished 9th, 5th and 9th, but are doing better this year and are currently 2nd in Ligue 1.
Ineos also sponsor the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team (once called Team Sky) and have a primary link-up with Mercedes in Formula One, as well as Ineos Team UK in sailing.
Did ‘boyhood Manchester United fan’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe not just try and buy Chelsea?
Yes, Ratcliffe made his move when the west London side was put up for sale by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, after he was sanctioned by the government as a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine and his links to Vladimir Putin.
Ratcliffe’s last-gasp offer was worth £4.25bn, including £2.5bn for the initial purchase and a further £1.75bn across 10 years to fund improvements to the stadium and team, and his pitch was similar to that made to Manchester United this week about creating a “fan-centred” ownership model.
“Our motives are simply to try and create a very fine club in London,” Ratcliffe said at the time. “We have no profit motive because we make our money in other ways.”
But Ratcliffe’s bid was “rejected out of hand” and he lost out to Todd Boehly and the Clearlake consortium who now own the Blues.
How did Sir Jim Ratcliffe make his money?
Up until the past few years Ratcliffe had kept a low profile for a billionaire. He had a relatively modest upbringing in Lancashire and then Yorkshire during the 1950s and 60s before studying at the University of Birmingham and London Business School, and made his fortune recovering struggling companies in the oil and gas sector.
Politically, he is a passionate Brexiteer as well as a strong advocate for fracking, with Ineos poised to be one of the leaders should the UK’s shale gas industry take off. He has courted controversy after not only moving himself to a tax haven in Monaco but also his company’s headquarters, shifting Ineos to a new base in Switzerland in 2010 before it returned to London five years later.
Ineos is the fourth largest chemical company in the world, reporting a profit of £474m in 2021.
Sir Dave Brailsford set for Manchester United role
The Independent understands that, subject to all the necessary approvals, Sir Jim Ratcliffe will delegate his seats on the PLC board to John Reece, a shareholder of INEOS and Rob Nevin, Chairman of INEOS Sport. On the UK board, he will delegate his seats to Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe vows to get Manchester United ‘back where we belong’
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has vowed to return Manchester United to “the very top of English, European and world football” after agreeing a £1.25billion deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club.
The Old Trafford outfit announced on Christmas Eve that the chairman of Ineos, who will assume delegated responsibility for football operations, had entered into an agreement, which is “subject to customary regulatory approvals”, which will also see him invest $300m – more than £236m – to refurbish the debt-laden club’s infrastructure.
However, it is boyhood fan Ratcliffe’s promise to put United “back where we belong” which will excite fans who have been in open revolt against owners the Glazer family, who launched a strategic review of the business in November last year.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe vows to get Manchester United ‘back where we belong’
Ineos will assume delegated responsibility for football operations under the deal, which was announced on Christmas Eve
Manchester United Supporters’ Trust response to INEOS agreement
“During 18 years of debt, decay and mismanagement, Manchester United fans have loudly and consistently called for change at our Club.
“When the so-called Strategic Review was announced nearly a year ago, it finally appeared that the sale of the club was on the horizon, potentially bringing the new investment and new direction MUFC so clearly needs.
“Against that backdrop, fans have very mixed feelings today. We welcome the investment from a boyhood red, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS company, but many will wish his ownership stake was greater than the initially rumoured 25%. We note the statements that he and his team will control sporting activities, yet puzzle how any organisation can put its very core business in the hands of a minority shareholder, and how that meaningfully works in practice.
“It is now incumbent on the Club’s owners and management to properly explain how this new structure will work, where the new investment will be directed and how it will benefit the team on the field. As the Supporters Trust, we expect to have discussions with the Club management and the INEOS team in the near future to understand their plans, and to put to them the very many questions fans have today.
“Today might – just might – be a step forward for Manchester United after some very difficult years. But with the Glazers still in charge, people should understand that United fans will remain sceptical and wait for the proof in the pudding.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies